Abstract
Purpose :
Recent studies have found that female ophthalmologist trainees and cataract surgeons perform fewer procedures than their male counterparts even after controlling for clinical productivity and parental leave. However, little is known about gender differences in practice patterns among retina specialists. Thus, we compared procedure volume among practicing male and female retina specialists in the United States.
Methods :
We used the Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data: Physician and Other Supplier Dataset and the Physician Compare National Downloadable File to identify procedures billed in 2017. Retina specialists were defined as those who performed intravitreal injection or posterior segment photocoagulation while not billing for neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser capsulotomy. Common retina procedures were categorized into 3 groups: intravitreal injections, posterior segment laser and surgical retinal detachment repair. We examined associations between gender and procedural volume using linear regression while controlling for providers’ clinical volume, years since medical school graduation, and group practice size.
Results :
In our cohort, 2,413 (82.4%) male and 516 (17.6%) female retina specialists billed Medicare for a retina procedure in 2017. Female retina specialists billed for significantly fewer clinical visits in 2017 (1,229 vs 1,807 per provider per year; p<0.001) and had significantly more members in their group practice (434 vs 237 per provider; p<0.001) than males. In multiple regression analysis, male gender was associated with greater annual laser volume (β, 12.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.5 to 18.9; p<0.001) as well as surgical retinal detachment repair volume (β, 9.61; 95% CI, 6.5 to 12.7; p<0.001) after controlling for clinical volume, group practice size and years in practice. There was no significant difference in yearly intravitreal injection volume by gender (β, 171.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], -83.5 to 426.6; p = 0.19).
Conclusions :
Female retina specialists performed fewer clinic visits and procedures than male retina specialists in 2017. After controlling for provider experience, group practice size and clinical volume, male retina specialists performed significantly greater numbers of posterior segment laser and retinal detachment procedures, however, there was a non-significant difference in intravitreal injection volume.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.